Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday urged Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram to stop communicating with Naxals via the media.
“I appeal to Mr. Chidambaram not to talk to the ultras through newspapers. It is ridiculous to hold talks on such a grave issue via mobile phones and SMS,” stated Mr. Kumar.
“We have only 23 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies stationed in Bihar. The Centre has not responded to our demand for more battalions, on the contrary it talks of withdrawing even these,” said Mr. Kumar, adding that due to the Centre’s indifference, he was forced to form the State Auxiliary Police (SAP).
Mr. Kumar stressed that the elimination of corruption at the grass roots level was the real solution to combat the Naxal problem.
“People in backward belts can only be brought into the mainstream if the implementation of ground level schemes is corruption-free,” he remarked.
Speaking at the State Executive Meet of the Janata Dal (United), Mr. Kumar once again refuted rumours of his party breaking up over his support for the Women’s Reservation Bill.
“Rumours about the JD (U) breaking away from the BJP and joining the Congress are utterly baseless media speculations which are best ignored,” he reiterated.
“Yes, there is an honest difference in our thought processes which I have never hidden from the public. Our party functions within a democratic setup where everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. So, let us ‘agree to disagree’,” commented Mr. Kumar, adding that the JD (U) was a truly secular party that accommodated people from every caste, creed and religion.
He further stated that he was in touch with members opposing the Bill in its present form.
Hitting out at the Centre for repeatedly ignoring Bihar’s request for the “Special Category” status, Mr. Kumar said that the State was merely demanding its rights, and not charity money from the Centre.
